Colorful Brushstrokes Nail Art Tutorial

I’m definitely not one of those people who is always dressed perfectly from head to toe. These days I’m usually wearing a ponytail, a tshirt, and jeans. But I especially love adding a fun and bright accessory or two to my simple everyday outfit, especially for light and simple summer beauty. Cute nails, a pretty scarf, sunglasses, or a statement necklace can take a simple outfit to the next level. Plus, my kids LOVE it when I have cool nail art.

Originally, I wanted to create more of a watercolor look. I was inspired by this nail art tutorial. The tutorial is translated from French, so I’m pretty sure she said she used rubbing alcohol as a way to thin the polish to create the watercolor look, but she also said she used “farting yellow” as a color. Obviously, Google translator is not perfect. I tried doing this and it just did not work for me. The polish got sort of thin and clumpy and then it seemed to peel away at the white polish when I brushed it on. So, instead I decided to go for the defined individual brushstrokes look (like this gorgeous DIY scarf), and it turned out perfectly!

I had been wanting a little nail art kit of some kind, so I headed to Walgreens with my daughter Lyla. I haven’t really written about it much, but we recently moved from Orlando, FL to Lookout Mountain, GA. We literally live on a mountain. It’s been a difficult transition for me because most of my favorite stores are 30 plus minutes away, but there is a Walgreens right at the bottom of the mountain, only about 10 minutes away. Hooray! #WalgreensBeauty #CollectiveBias (Plus, check out the free gift with purchase offer now through 8-30-14: Spend $20 on beauty products and get a free travel make-up brush set. Get the coupon here.)

Lyla pretty much wanted to fill our little basket with every color ever made… and I can’t say I don’t have the same urge most of the time. I especially wanted to try out everything from the Sally Hansen I ♥ Nail Art line!

What you need:
1. Detail Brush (I got the Sally Hansen I ♥ Nail Art Kit with two brushes and a dotting tool)
2. Nail Polish Remover (I picked up some from the Studio 35 line at Walgreens)
3. Colorful Nail Polish
4. White Nail Polish
5. Base Coat and Top Coat

What you do:

1. Start off with a base coat. Then carefully paint your nails with two coats of white polish. Make sure you wait a while between coats to make sure each coat is completely dry.

2. Choose your first color. I wanted this blue color to be the focus, so I started with it. I dabbed a little polish into a painter’s pallet, but you could also use something like parchment paper. Use your thin detail or striping brush to paint stripes onto your white nails. Vary the way they look. If there is too much polish on the brush it will be thick and heavy. If there is a little less polish, you will get that great brushy look.

3. Clean your brush in nail polish remover between each color. (I filled one of the slots in the pallet with nail polish remover to make it easier.) Keep adding colors. For this look, I let some of the strokes overlap a little bit, but I mostly kept them separate from each other. I ended out using 6 different colors, but I think this look would also be beautiful with just 3 or 4. Picking your color combos is the best part!

4. Make sure the polish is fully dry and add a top coat for a finished look.